The World Cup came to an abrupt end Monday evening for the USA men as they fell to Belgium by a 4-1 count.
Making it through to the last 16 was an achievement for the USMNT, but they obviously met their match when they came up against Belgium in Seattle.
As I expected, the same media that jumped on the team’s bandwagon after the early success in the tournament have turned on the team. They are now making the argument that the USMNT exited the tournament at the first time of playing a team of any real quality.
Many go on to say that USA men’s soccer will never compete well against perennial soccer powers like France, Spain, Argentina, or Belgium.
The United States certainly has the financial power to improve the nation’s future in the world of soccer. But it takes more than money.
Those who state all we need to do is to put our best athletes, our best NFL football players on the field (or pitch) and we could dominate. That statement is so flawed.
For starters, the two games are so different. Soccer players do athletic acts that NFL players could not dream of doing. And the same goes for soccer players not being able to perform basic football skills.
Yes, the countries that beat us have their best athletes on their rosters. And yes, soccer is the number-one sport in those nations.
What those countries do is take their best athletes at a very young age and put them in an infrastructure where soccer is their life. We would never do that.
The path for our youth is and will be much different. For the most part our youth will continue to play multiple sports until they choose one to concentrate on.
Each success our men have at the world level will inspire the next generation of soccer athletes and we will gradually get better.
There is a long way to go before the US are able to truly compete at the top end of soccer, but this summer has shown some promising signs for the future.
